Dimitri Courant

Dimitri Courant

Position
Postdoctoral Fellow
Title
Ph.D. in political science
Cell Phone
Office
79 John F. Kennedy Street, Mailbox 74, Cambridge, MA 02138

Dimitri Courant

Position
Postdoctoral Fellow
Title
Ph.D. in political science
About
Bio/Description

I am a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School.

Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Global Fung Fellow at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS), at Princeton University (AY 2022-2023).

I received his dual Ph.D. in political science jointly from the University of Lausanne and the University Paris 8. I hold a master’s degree in political science from Sciences Po Rennes and a master’s in social sciences from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS, Paris). I also studied at Queen Mary University of London through the Erasmus program. 

I am the vice president of the related group on Democratic Innovations at the American Political Science Association (APSA).

My research focuses on deliberation, representation, democracy, and sortition. My qualitative fieldwork inquiry compares several case-studies, especially the Irish Citizens’ Assemblies (Ireland); the Citizens’ Convention for Climate, and the National Great Debate (France). I was also part of the team leading the first Citizen Initiative Review in Switzerland. My postdoctoral work investigates citizens’ assemblies on climate change in an international comparative perspective.

My recent publications include: “Institutionalizing deliberative mini-publics? Issues of legitimacy and power for randomly selected assemblies in political systems” (2022); and “Citizens' Assemblies for Referendums and Constitutional Reforms: Is There an ‘Irish Model’ for Deliberative Democracy?” (2021). I am co-editing (with Bernard Reber) the forthcoming book Deliberative Democracy and Just Ecological Transition: The French Citizens’ Convention for Climate.

Curriculum Vitae
CV
Education
  • Ph.D. in Political Science – University of Lausanne & University Paris 8 (Joint supervision), 2022.
  • MA in Social Sciences – School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS), 2015.
  • MA in Political Science (European & International Politics) – Sciences Po Rennes, 2014.
Selected Publications

Courant, D. and Reber, B. Deliberative Climate Politics. The French Citizens' Convention. New York: Wiley, in press.

Courant, D. “Institutionalizing Deliberative Mini-Publics? Issues of Legitimacy and Power for Randomly Selected Assemblies in Political Systems”, Critical Policy Studies, vol. 16, n°2, p. 162-180, 2022.

Courant, D. “Citizens’ Assemblies for Referendums and Constitutional Reforms: Is there an "Irish model" for Deliberative Democracy?”, Frontiers in Political Science, vol. 2, p. 1-20, 2021.

Courant, D. “Des mini-publics délibératifs pour sauver le climat ? Analyses empiriques de l’Assemblée citoyenne irlandaise et de la Convention citoyenne française”, Archives de Philosophie du Droit, vol. 62, p. 485-507, 2020.

Courant, D. “From kleroterion to cryptology: The act of sortition in the 21st century”, in Sintomer Y. & Lopez-Rabatel L. (ed.), Sortition and Democracy, Imprint Academics, Exeter, p. 343-371, 2020.

Courant, D. “Sortition and Democratic Principles. A Comparative Analysis”, in Olin Wright E. & Gastil J. (ed.), Legislature by Lot, Verso, The Real Utopia Project, New York, p. 229-248, 2019.